419 Xu Qing’s Past
“Brother, don’t cry.”
The black-robed young man looked at Xu Qing’s tears and raised his hand to rub Xu Qing’s head as he spoke softly.
“Why are you still crying like when you were young?”
Xu Qing’s body trembled as his gaze landed on the face that should be familiar but was now extremely unfamiliar.
The person in front of him was his older brother. In his memories, he had stood before him countless times like a mountain. Every time he cried, he would rub his head and say the same gentle words.
This was the most beautiful scene in Xu Qing’s memories. It was also the most fragile and precious place under his tough exterior, supporting him through the difficult and cold times.
At this moment, the barrier collapsed.
The black-robed young man looked into Xu Qing’s eyes and spoke in a gentle voice.
“Brother, I had many siblings in my previous life, but I didn’t experience much warmth. All I encountered was coldness and scheming. It was the same with Royal Father.”
“Therefore, in this life, I cherish our memories very much. No matter if it’s our parents or you… especially you, who always like to cry.” The black-robed young man spoke gently.
“However, the moment I awakened the memories of my previous life, if I didn’t immediately offer up a complete city and complete the ritual for the deity, I wouldn’t have been able to be reborn and would have withered into death.”
The black-robed young man said calmly.
“At that time, I looked at you sitting in the bloody swamp and corpses under the blood rain, crying helplessly for father, mother, and me. I was actually very happy that you survived. I really wanted to walk toward you and rub your head. I wanted to tell you not to cry.”
When Xu Qing heard this, his mind, which was already filled with thunder, rumbled again. As the thunder rumbled, his body trembled violently, and his mind was stirred up by even more violent waves. He let out a low growl from his throat, but the shout couldn’t exit his mouth.
In the end, it turned into blood that seeped out of his mouth and nose and dripped onto the ground.
The black-robed young man lowered his head and looked at Xu Qing with pity in his eyes. He then placed the candied hawthorn in his hand to the side.
“I saw it on the way. I remembered that you liked eating it, so I got it for you.”
After speaking, the black-robed young man cast a deep glance at Xu Qing. He then put on the mask and walked past Xu Qing.
Saintly Star and his father lowered their heads and silently followed, walking past Xu Qing.
The last person to walk past Xu Qing was Night Dove, who was holding Lord Sixth’s head.
When he was passing by Xu Qing, Night Dove’s footsteps halted as he spoke in a low voice.
“My name is Night Dove. I didn’t expect you to have such a relationship with Master.”
With that, Night Dove walked away. Thunder echoed in the sky. Amidst the dark clouds, rain and snow mixed together and scattered on the ground.
Xu Qing’s body trembled violently. He wanted to struggle, he wanted to chase after them, he wanted to ask questions. When his struggles reached an extreme intensity, the black-robed young man in the distance stopped in his tracks and spoke in a gentle voice.
“By the way, Brother, I buried Father and Mother’s bodies in Mount Morning Glow in Fenghai County. Go visit them when you have time.”
These words drifted over from afar and entered Xu Qing’s ears, becoming the final bolt of lightning that caused him to collapse. This bolt of lightning was so powerful that it surpassed everything. The might of this lightning seemed to destroy his whole being.
Xu Qing’s body trembled to the extreme. His eyes were as red as a sea of blood and his aura became chaotic. The sorrow in his heart raged violently.
At the next instant, Xu Qing’s body shook violently. He could move now.
An unprecedented shrill shout came from his mouth. He was not a person who liked to shout, but at that moment, the grief and pain came out of his mouth in the form of a shrill shout.
He turned around and chased after the black-robed young man at full speed. He knew that this was irrational, but he could not be rational.
A cold wind blew by. As the sky rumbled, snowflakes rained down on him. The bone-piercing cold assaulted him, but Xu Qing continued to chase. He chased for a long, long time, but there was nothing in front of him.
As more and more snow rain fell, Xu Qing’s body churned and he spat out a mouthful of blood that merged with the snow rain. When it landed on the ground, Xu Qing’s body trembled and he staggered as he half-knelt.
Snow and rain fell down his hair, shoulders, and face. It was impossible to tell if it was tears that flowed onto the ground.
In the end, a bitter laugh rang out from Xu Qing’s mouth. He lifted his head and stared at the sky, at the night sky, at the indistinct fragmented-face of the god.
A part of the past that he had suppressed in his heart slowly appeared in front of his eyes from the softest part of his heart that was now riddled with holes.
That was thirteen years ago.
The memories from back then were already blurry. This was the rule of life.
However, Xu Qing still remembered the feeling of having a home when he was young. It was the warmth of his parents’ company. It was the warmth of a family of four.
He remembered his father’s callused hands, his mother’s kind gaze, and vaguely remembered the taste of the food.
And all of that ended with the arrival of that day.
He could not forget that day when the fragmented-face of the god in the sky suddenly opened its eyes.
Its gaze fell on the city he was in, and in the blink of an eye… Heaven and Earth blurred, and everything twisted. The entire city vanished. His parents disappeared. His big brother disappeared.
Everything had disappeared.
Only a large amount of remains and blood rain fell from the sky, leaving him alone, crying helplessly in the blood swamp.
He cried until he passed out.
When he woke up, he thought that it was just a nightmare and that his parents and big brother would appear when he woke up. However, everything around him was still the same when he opened his eyes. This made him know that the nightmare might have just begun.
At that time, he was only six years old. He could not remember how he had left. He could not remember how difficult it had been to survive. He could not remember what things he had eaten to survive. He could not remember how much he struggled on the verge of death.
Gradually, he became a vagrant. His body was covered in dirt, and he saw countless human evils.
Gradually, he learned how to fight for food with wild dogs, how to bare his teeth, and how to endure and be vigilant. He began to like hiding in the dark.
Gradually, he learned how to kill. Finally, in the slums of a small city, after killing the burly man who wanted to eat him, he cut off his head bit by bit and hung it on a tree, allowing him to have a place.
Gradually, he began to yearn for life in the city. He envied the people there who had cleaner clothes than him. He also yearned to become a cultivator so that he could live a better life.
Gradually, living became the only thought in his heart.
He should not have been like this. It was this world that had changed him.
Therefore, he had great respect for knowledge.
Therefore, he was extremely cruel to his enemies and would seek revenge for the smallest grievance.
Therefore, he was extremely grateful to the people who helped him.
This was also the reason why he was not afraid when that small slum city faced the calamity under the gaze of the god. On one hand, life was already like this. He was not afraid of death, so what was there to be afraid of?
On the other hand… he had already experienced it before.
However, there was still hope in his heart. He felt that his parents were not dead and his big brother was still around, and they were searching for him.
It was his secret. He hadn’t shared it with anyone.
Back then, when he left the ruined city with Captain Lei, the temporary team members were discussing the city that had disappeared a few years ago. Xu Qing listened to them and remained silent.
Back then, when the captain told him that the city that had disappeared was a sacrifice, Xu Qing remained silent.
Back then, in the Phoenix Forbidden, when Old Master Seventh told him about the secrets of the Purple Green Kingdom and the place where the crown prince died, Xu Qing remained silent.
Just like at this moment, he, who was crying in the snow rain, slowly stopped shouting. Slowly, he stopped trembling, and slowly, he fell silent again.
He was mending his heart. He was perfecting the high walls, sealing up the bitter vulnerability and the softness that he did not want to be touched.
After a long time, he took out the bamboo slip from his storage bag and carved two words on it.
‘Big Brother.’
He wrote the two words very seriously and powerfully.
“One day, if I don’t die, I’ll kill you, Crown Prince of the Purple Green Kingdom.”
Xu Qing mumbled inwardly and closed his eyes. After a long time, he opened his eyes and put Saintly Star and his father, as well as Night Dove in the list.
In the rain and snow, he stood up and walked further and further away without looking back.
The cold in the wind and snow suddenly made him feel fearless.
His back was bleak and sharp, like a lone wolf. At the same time, there was a hint of maturity that had been honed.
Xu Qing remembered Captain Lei saying that a person would mature when many things were buried in their heart.
Xu Qing felt that he had matured at this moment.
He wanted to return to the sect. After he was strong enough, he would leave the Yinghuang Province and visit Mount Morning Glow.
Moreover, he didn’t just want to kill those people carved on the bamboo slip. He felt unprecedented killing intent toward the whole Illuminate.
“Illuminate.”
Xu Qing’s voice was hoarse. He then took out his magic warship and sped through the rain and snow toward the Eight Sects Alliance.
In the cabin of the warship, Xu Qing sat there silently and meditated.
Time passed bit by bit.
Three days later, Xu Qing slowly opened his eyes.
He expressionlessly lowered his head and looked at his storage bag. After a long time, he opened it and took out a pot of wine. After drinking a large mouthful, accompanied by the spiciness flowing down his throat, Xu Qing recalled the first time he drank wine.
At that time, Captain Lei looked at him with a smile and said that he was still young and did not understand the taste of alcohol.
After entering the Seven Blood Eyes, Xu Qing understood. But today, he felt that the wine wasn’t strong enough.
After taking another big gulp, he got up and walked out of the cabin. He stood on the deck and looked up at the night sky. Feeling the strong wind from the sky, he slowly retracted his gaze and looked into the distance.
After a long while, Xu Qing took out a flute and placed it by his mouth.
Gradually… a bleak tune rang out from the flute and drifted away.
The tune talked about the past.
This tune was called Parting Sadness.
At this moment, Illuminate’s group was moving forward in the wilderness of the Yinghuang Province. No one spoke along the way.
The black-robed young man in front walked indifferently, and the people behind him were silent.
After a long time, Night Dove raised his head to look at his master. After a moment of hesitation, he spoke in a low voice.
“Master, are you doing this because you want to agitate Xu Qing and let him grow to the state you want? Or… is he someone with a previous life like you?”
The black-robed young man in front shook his head and said calmly.
“You’re thinking too much. I do what I want, and I don’t have the habit of agitating others.”
“Brother doesn’t have a previous life. He was just a child from an ordinary family. However, in this life, before my memories were awakened, the kinship I felt became a fetter after my awakening.”
“Master, what would have happened if I accidentally… killed him in the Seven Blood Eyes?” Night Dove asked after some hesitation.
“You will die,” the black-robed young man said calmly without turning around.
Night Dove fell silent. He understood that his master didn’t care about Xu Qing’s life at all. Otherwise, he would have stopped him when he attacked before.
Because he did not care, anyone could be killed. He would watch and not stop.
However, because of the fetter, he would kill those who killed Xu Qing.
Everything would run its own course.
At the end of the day, his master was not Xu Qing’s elder brother. From the beginning to the end, he had always been the crown prince of Purple Green whose talents had stunned the world, who even the holy lands had tried to take in as a disciple many times, who had given a promise to the deity before he died, and who had been granted a second life.
Night Dove lowered his head and spoke in a low voice. “Master, if severing the fetter will allow your Dao Heart to become even more complete, then Night Dove is willing to do it!”
“I don’t cultivate Dao, so I don’t need a Dao heart. What I cultivate is divine.” The black-robed young man’s gaze was calm as he walked further and further away.